The Ideal MMO – Stealth PvP MMO

13Feb

I’ve never really considered myself to be a huge fan of the stealth genre. I quite often find myself sneaking around for 20 minutes, learning the movements of my enemies and waiting for that perfect time to strike; only to find myself dead 10 seconds after initiating combat. So what prompted me to write about a stealth PvP MMO? Well in short, a multiplayer mode on the Xbox version of Tom Clancey’s Splinter Cell.

The multiplayer mode pitted a Cell agent against a mercenary in a variety of strategy themed, objective-based missions. Extraction was my personal favorite, a mode that asked the stealth agent to enter a complex and retrieve two data disks. However, it’s not that easy as a mercenary is charged with protecting those disks at all costs.

The stealth player was given the third-person view long associated with the Splinter Cell franchise, while the mercenary was using the less familiar FPS approach. Both teams had access to different gadgets and a variety of unique mechanics, and it is these that made this game mode so exciting.

The mercenary had instant access to cameras scattered throughout the complex, as well as a fully automatic weapon, grenades and other lethal equipment. The stealth agent on the other hand was provided with more tactical weaponry such as a stun grenade, tranquilizer dart and distraction devices.

The multiplayer provided hours of endless fun as the stealth agent would travel through the air ducts trying to out-think his mercenary opponent; all the while the mercenary was trying to keep one step ahead, avoiding distraction techniques and watching every corner for the stealth assassin.

This would not be an impossible idea to transfer to the MMO market. Why does every online game have to feature massive amounts of players everywhere? A game can still be an MMO as long as it features some kind of massive mechanic, such as the collected stolen intelligence from all agents changing the game world in some way.

The potential is almost limitless. The game could support 1v1 right up to 5v5, varied maps and objective-based modes, the ability to upgrade weaponry and skills, I could go on forever.

I suppose the closest thing really is the upcoming Warframe, which actually has nothing in common with this idea but it does show that co-op/small-scale online games can still be a real treat.

How would you feel about an MMO game that focused on PvP that didn’t reward fastest trigger first? Instead rewarding players for a tactical approach, or a well thought out strategy.